The Roman Catholic Church has appointed a replacement for Raymond Lahey, the bishop of the Diocese of Antigonish, N.S., who is facing child pornography charges.

Bishop Brian Dunn, currently auxiliary bishop in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., expects to be in the new post in January.

The promotion will be challenging, he said.

"My first response was a response of gratitude but at the same time, I really realized that there will be difficulties in the whole assisting people to be healed," said Dunn.

"And so there were some hesitations — do I have enough experience? Am I able to be with people in their difficulties? So there were some hesitations," he said.

"But ultimately, I have a sense of the church, I have a sense of a call, I have a sense of faith that I believe will be helpful to this appointment.

"The only thing that I can say is that I'm with people in their difficulties, their sense of betrayal, their hurt and I'll be able to support them and try to move people, help them be able to respond in faith in a new way, in a renewed way and I realize that will take time."

Lahey, who is facing charges of importing and possessing child pornography, retired in September, before the charges against him became public.

On Sept. 15, he was detained at the Ottawa airport after border officials said they found what they suspected were pornographic images of young males on his laptop. Lahey was released at the time, then charged 10 days later after investigators confirmed several of the subjects were underage.

Lahey has been living in a priest's residence run by the archdiocese of Ottawa and is scheduled to be back in court on Dec. 16.

Dunn, who is originally from Newfoundland and Labrador, says he has not spoken with Lahey.